Cooking utensil.



To all whol-n. if may concern:

No. 894,974..l g

Beit known that I, ANNA M. NICODEMUS, a 'citizen ofthe United States, residing at Chicago, in lthe county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Cooking Utensils, of which the following is a speciicaton.

My invention relates to cooking utensils and has for its object among other ends, to provide a device for supporting materiels while being cooked in a pot or pan or other vessel.A l

`The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein Figure l is a side view of an ordinary iron pot, the wall of which is broken away so as to'show my device in lace; Fig. 2, a plan view of the device; FFig. 3, anelevation showing the handle in position; Fig. 4, a

similar view taken at right angles to Fig. 3;

Fig. 5, a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 6, a detail of the detachable Iy device has several different utilities Vas a cooking utensil, and is capable of being ma e 'use of in a number of different ways. One ifits principal uses is to serve as' a support or`=meats,vegetables or vother inatter while the}f\are being cooked in water or a broth. 'Ihsuch case, it is desirable that the articles being`cooked should not come into contact withthe wall of the vessel, which is,

ofcourse, relatively hot in comparison with theV liquid in which they are submerged. This arrangement prevents scorching if the liquid gets low, and "at all times keeps the things be' cooked from sticking to the bottom of t e vessel.

My device is capable of being constructed in several dierent forms. el have here shown the device as circular, consisting of a ring of wire or other material', A, upon which is built up a woven abricB. This is preferably composed of wires B1 B* interwovento form a rectangular mesh, such wires having the loops l?)2 Bz by which they are secured to the ringAand' the vertical portions Ba B", these raising the mesh or grating upon which the articles are to rest a slight distance above the bottom of the vessel upon which the device rests. The device may, of course, be of any shape or size, to meet diierent requirements, and it has any considerable diameter, I preerto construct it with a central sup ort C which n1 ay 'be made by looping one of t e central wires Cl about the. other Specification of Letters Patent.

' f Application led February 17, .1905. Serial No. 2i5,987.

1 ANNA n. Niconmms, or cmcAoo, masons.

coome U'rnNsn..

more than one of these supports as the occasion may demand.

In putting my device to the use indicated, it may or may not be used in connection with the detachable bail which I am about tion, but preferably I ma e it of t'wo strands of stii somewhat elastic wire D D which are twisted together at the center but spread apart at each end of the bail as shown at Dl D.and. provided each with a part to engage with the mesh of the lmat. These sTATns PATENT oFrfrcE.

central wire C? and then twisting tho loop 'shown in Fig. 5. Therevv may; of course, be

engaging parts are each composed ofk a .hook D2 which extends under` the ring A and of a loo D in the wireabove such hook which 1s bent in toward, the center of the mat to abut against the 'vertical sections B3 B3 of the wires forming the mat, from this point, the wire Dl being bent transversely somewhat, as shown at D. The wires D1 have preferably an inward s ling action tending to force the loo s 3 Da against the vertical sections of t e mat. The twisted portion of the bail may be bent so as to give this part also a spring action which holds the hooks in firm engagement with the mat. 'If desired, of

course, the mat may be used upsidey down with the bail attached thereto, thusforming a basket.

n Fig. 1, E represents an ordinary iron pot,`the side being partially broken away so as to show my device resting on the bot? tom of the pot, F representing the articlewhich is being cooked.

I have thus described one form of my device, but it is evident that there might be considerable modification madein form and in method of construction and,`\\there fore, I do not limit myself to the particular devices and constructions here shown, but desire that the drawings be taken as in a sens diagrammatic and illustrative of the principle rack from the bottom of the vessel and allowing the liquid to surround them on all aide. When the article is used for f ma be very quickly adjuste to e fried placed on the mesh formed by the wires B* B1, and the device then submerged in the oil or grease. The articles being fried will, of course, float and ma be properly turned and cooked, the rac or mat resting on the bottom ci the vessel.

When the articles are fried, they may be all lifted out together and dumped upon a plate, the engagement of the bail with the mat being rigid so as to allow the met to be tipped up without slipping. The form of the mat may of course, be considerably changed, the bail with its two pairs of engaging hooks being adapted to engage with almost any sort of woven wire mat or rack, even a fiat one. l

I claim: o

1. In a cooking utensil, the combination of a rack comprising a substantially fiat grating anda rim part with a detachable ail adapted to extend over the grating and provided at each end with two hooks to engage the rim part of the grating on like while being cooked in a liquid, as shown in Fig. 11, the device serves as a m-atkpr ding the articles a proper distancd` \of a rack or ng, the balk 1 the articles opposite sides so that the senie. may be lixted and kept horizontal orbe tilted substantially es and for the p described. 2. -In a coo utens,te combination n ating com d o relatively thin pieces o material' bent so as to form substantiall verticalsupporting parte' with a, detacheb e bail having hooks to engage 'Y a1 at each end to abut against the vertical sup-V4 therewith, and projections on thev b porting parte of the rack or grati so that the same may be tilted by means o the bail.

3. a cooking utensil, the combination of a rack or grat' of wire fabric having the edges bent to crm a su porting part with afdetachable bail, a hoo on each end of the bail to extend under the edge of such fabric, and a loop to engage: with the ver- Y tical ortion of such fabric.

4. n a cooking utensil, the combination of a rack or grating with a bail having a pair of enge. members at eachend, each of such mem ers comprising a hook adapted to engage a horizontal part of such grating and a loop to engage with a vertical part thereof.

ANNA M. NICODEMUS. Witnesses:

Horden L. Kmr'r, l LUCY A. FALKENBERG. 

